Reflections in the Ice
''Reflections in the ice is a fanfiction made by Cactinablizzard the sandwingicewing. Please do not edit without her permission.'' Chapter 1 Cactina scanned the ground below her, breathing in the icy air and letting the wind tug at her near-white wings. Yes, I'm not supposed to be here, and Father will be horribly angry if he finds out, ''she thought guiltily, but that didn't matter to her right now. Cactina wasn't ''bad, as a rule, she just wasn't always ''that careful, and was different than your average dragonet. Cactina lived in Icewing territory, fought in the Icewing army, and lived a (pretty much) Icewing life, but she wasn't a full Icewing. Oh, she wished she were, the dazzling Icewings with frostbreath and shimmering scales, but she wasn't. Cactina Blizzard was an Icewing-Sandwing hybrid. She was born as a healthy dragonet in the south of the Icewing kingdom, to an Icewing father and a Sandwing mother. She had an older brother named forge, and an adopted Mudwing little brother. When she was younger, she lived as a normal Icewing dragonet. Other Icewing dragonets would tease her as she tried to keep up with them in the rankings. Even when her rank flourished, that didn't stop them from taunting her, but Queen Glacier was kind to her like nobody else was, and was a hero in Cactina's eyes. The sound of wing beats brought Cactina back out of her thoughts. She quickly spun around as a smaller dragonet her age landed next to her. Her eyes were a dark blue and she had scattered dark blue scales running down her snout and sides. "Hey Blizz!" Greeted the other dragonet. "Hi, Moraine" Cactina said. Moraine was one of her only friends. She was in the 2nd circle with Cactina, and treated her as an equal, instead of a lower, unlike other dragonets. Moraine was kind and outgoing, and trained hard. She hoped to reach her older sister Lynx in the rankings one day. "So, what's up? You spend to much time on your 'special snowbank' here." Moraine stated. "Daydreaming again? You know, if you really wanted to be Icewingish, you shouldn't sit here and pout." "I am NOT pouting." Cactina said indignantly. "Uh-huh," replied Moraine, only half listening. "You know, we should be heading back to the training towers. There's a polar bear hunt going on, and we might be able to get higher on the rankings," "Yeah, sure." Cactina said halfheartedly, running her claws through the snow. ''I guess I may as well train, it seems to be the only thing I'm okay at. ''She thought forlornly. The pair flapped back towards the palace, trying to shield their eyes from the bright reflections of the sun on the ice. Cactina did a spiral towards the ground, and shot back up in the air, feeling happy to stretch her wings. Several dragons poked their noses out of the homes of the lower aristocrats and sniffed at her, but she didn't mind. She was used to it. Moraine's eyes glanced towards the ice sculpture gardens as they swept past. Even though she had lived there her entire life, she still was amazed by the detail every time she saw them. Cactina smiled, proud of the Icewings. They were so lucky to live in such a beautiful place. ''And I am too. She added to herself, remembering that she wouldn't be here without Queen Glacier. They tilted there wings to glide towards the entrance to the palace. Landing smoothly on the powdery snow, they curled their tails in and marched up to the guard. He hit his spear against the ground twice, a familiar Whomp, Whomp, sound. He sneezed as the snow went up his nose, fidgeting as if he was worried that just that would lower his ranking. He gingerly rubbed his snout, then looked back up. "2nd circle dragonets. Moraine and Cactina." Moraine told the guard, who did a small bow and swept to the side. They hurried through the hallway, their claws tapping on the ice. They quickly bowed to a high ranked guard as he passed, who was muttering to himself about the "Highly unacceptable behavioral issues of the 4th circle dragonets" They walked past the tree of light, not needing a moon globe, as it was daytime. Moraine glanced up at the rankings and murmured something about Snowfall being higher than her sister. As they went through another passageway, they chatted about the best places to hunt for seals. An Icy door up ahead marked the entrance to their training tower. Moraine rapped smartly on the door, then adjusted her position to Icewing guarding stance. The door slowly swung open and sharp blue eyes met theirs Chapter 2 When Cactina was a small dragonet, her father, Anorak the Icewing, was always the high-ranked, stereotypical Icewing. Now, as he stood in front of them, eyeing their half-right stance, Cactina couldn't help but wonder how or why her father had dragonets with a Sandwing. It was the only topic he wouldn't talk about. "Cactina, Moraine," He hissed, "Coming back from..?" Something about his voice was always severe, but he was really well meaning and kind. "Err, hunting, sir." Moraine lied. She knew that her friends father hated her daughter being upset about who she was. As Icewing-ish as Anorak was, he cared very much about his daughter. "Very well," He said, not looking fully convinced, but moved aside to let them through. The training tower was a tall building, with platforms and ledges that opened to outside, for taking off, or landing. There were various areas to practice fighting, and animus-touched target dummy's that could be ripped apart by a normal dragon, but always grew back in minutes. Charts with fighting techniques were carved into some icy walls, and dragonets were everywhere, fighting, practicing hunting techniques, flying. They watched a small dragonet launch himself off a ledge, and surprise himself by staying airborne for a few seconds. "Still, nobody has ever learned as quickly as Hailstorm." Anorak commented, as another dragonet tried to dodge an attack, and accidentally flipped himself onto his friend. "He wasn't doubted to win the diamond trial. Some of these other dragonets could take a lesson from him. " He sniffed disapprovingly. "Speaking of the diamond trial," Moraine told Cactina. "Lynx is still ''pretty upset that, that Winter dragon- you know, your cousin, lost. You know anything that could cheer her up?" Cactina hadn't been there when Hailstorm returned from the diamond caves, carrying his spear. His parents looking pleased, the crowd not surprised, but Hailstorm and Lynx seemed to be the only dragons who were worried or sad. It had happened several years ago, so she didn't really know why the topic was so popular still. ''From the stories, Winter seemed like an okay dragon. Not the best with the rankings, but an okay dragon. ''Cactina thought to herself. "So, do you have any ideas?" Moraine repeated. "Oh, yeah, what?" Cactina said, needing to rewind the conversation in her head. "No, I don't have any ideas. Sorry." she added, seeing the crestfallen look on her friends face. Anorak cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. "As I am sure you have already gathered, there is a polar bear hunt taking place. You are expected to find one and bring it back as soon as possible. It may have affect on your rankings." ''How much affect? ''Cactina wondered as she and Moraine bowed down and stepped towards a takeoff window. Small hunts like this really couldn't bring up your ranking much, but she really didn't have anything else to do. She actually ''liked ''training, just not as much as some things. They launched themselves off the ledge, sharp eyes scanning the horizon for a polar bear. It was unlikely for bears to be that close to the palace, so they angled west and glided above the shore line. "Do you think you can get a bear before me?" Moraine challenged. "You're on!" Cactina responded as Moraine whacked her wing playfully and spiraled off. ''Now for the polar bear... Cactina did a flip in the air and flew in the other direction. She had seen a den the other day that she didn't think anyone had noticed. Hopefully, she could make it there in time. The wind was light and playful today, flipping the tiny harmless barb on her tail around, and lifting her up. It whistled around her snout and ears. She was going to show Moraine this spot... but she thought it would be funny if she could do that after ''she brought back the bear. All the Icewings looking admiringly at her, commenting on what a great hunter she was- well that probably wouldn't happen, but it was an encouraging idea anyway. Cactina didn't have the ''best reputation among the Icewings. They looked at her as if she shouldn't belong, shouldn't exist. In a way, that made sense to Cactina. The Icewings were a perfect tribe, and they didn't need her messing it up. But she still wanted to fit in. To try. When they looked at her in that way, she wanted to prove herself. To be the dragon that she knew she could be. But, I'm not, and never will be. She added to herself, looking at it realistically. She couldn't become full Icewing. It just wasn't possible. Cactina sighed, her breath swirling in the frozen air before her. As she touched down in the right spot, she looked over at the den. It was in a clever position, looking more like a snowbank than anything, but Cactina knew how to get in. She paced around the den once, then dug her claws into the side, causing a cascade of snow to slide down and reveal an opening. There were two cubs inside, shivering from either the cold or Cactina's presence. She looked down at them piteously. They won't have their mother soon... will they be fine alone? ''Cactina cut off her not-too-Icewing train of thought. If she wanted to be a true warrior, she should kill them too, but she found herself covering the den back up and leaving the cubs alone. Cactina spun around to find herself face-to-face with a pretty big polar bear. Cactina was a pretty big dragonet herself, so she was nearly twice its size, but polar bears weren't ever very smart, and always chose to fight back. The polar bear flung itself onto Cactina as she tried to dig her claws into its back, causing her to be pushed backwards into a snowbank. ''Some warrior. Losing to a bear '' she thought sarcastically to herself. She leaped back upwards and successfully scratched her claws across its throat, then pummeled its underbelly with sharp talons. It collapsed to the ground with a groan that made Cactina feel surprisingly bad. ''Well, at least I killed it. ''For some reason that thought didn't make her feel any better either. As she flapped back to the palace, carrying her polar bear, she ran into a grinning Moraine, who, unsurprisingly, was hefting two bears beneath her. "Hey Blizz!" she called happily. "I ran into another along the way." "I noticed that. Why is it that ''you ''can come back with two, in the same time I get one, and I already knew where to look." She smiled, showing that she wasn't jealous, but proud of her friend. "C'mon, lets head back!" They landed on the ledge of the training tower window simultaneously, earning longing looks from the smaller dragonets to the bears. As the scanned around, they realized that, surprisingly, Anorak wasn't there. "Did you notice-" Moraine started curiously. "Yeah, I did." Cactina interrupted. ''Father wouldn't ever leave his post, even though all Icewing dragonets are well trained enough to take care of themselves. This could harm his ranking, maybe sending him down a few spots... "Well, we could leave our bears here. After all, the dragonets would enjoy them, and, do we really need to improve our ranking that much?" Well, ''you don't. Cactina grumbled in her head, but kept that to herself. She hated it when she sometimes felt those little prickles of annoyance for Moraine, but she knew it wasn't real. She was lucky to have a friend like her, and knew that she ought to be more caring, more selfless. "Okay, sure." She made a not-too-forced smile, and dropped her bear down on the icy floor, causing a group of rampaging dragonets to spring onto it, saying "thank-you" through stuffed mouths. One, however, stayed behind, looking at the bear with big, blue worried eyes. "You don't think... that this wouldn't be allowed... do you?" She asked tentatively. "No, it will be fine, you need some energy to help you train." Moraine told her reassuringly, "Just remember to hide the bones." Truthfully, it almost certainly wasn't allowed, but Cactina knew that Moraine would feel bad for the dragonets, as they both remembered the long, tiring days, when they would long for food as they dodged other dragonets, and grappled up ice cliffs. Maybe, sometimes, some rules in the Ice Kingdom weren't the best. ''Stop that. ''Cactina scolded herself. ''You know you're very lucky to live here, you should be grateful instead. Sometimes her brain was annoyingly traitorous. She flung the door out of the training tower open, nearly colliding with a scary-looking, panting, very angry Anorak. Chapter 3 "It's unfair..." Anorak growled, stamping into the room, ignoring his daughter and the dragonets. Cactina has never seen him this angry before. A dragonet tilted his head up from the half-eaten polar bear, then slowly edged behind a ledge, worriedly eyeing Anorak. Several others did the same as Anorak whipped his tail around, leaving a sting mark across a training statue. "They can't do this..." He howled, then stopped abruptly, realizing all the dragons staring at him. "Sorry..." His voice calmed down a bit "I was just... bothered. Continue your training, this still affects your rank. I expect highly of each of you " Something angry in his eyes stirred for a moment, then he turned away. "Cactina, Moraine, I would like to speak to you." They cautiously followed him as he led them to a more secluded spot of the training tower. Here, they were out of earshot of the dragonets. Anorak cleared his throat. "I understand that the rankings are sometimes difficult for both of you." Cactina and Moraine exchanged glances. This is about the rankings? Anorak cleared his throat again. "Sometimes, you will need to forget those rankings, and do what is right. Sometimes, they are not the most important thing in life. Sometimes, you need to remember where you came from." He paused, his gaze traveling over both of them. "Cactina, my daughter, a dragonet who is a tie between two tribes, and forced into a bad position because of two dragon's love. I am asking you to, sacrificing your goals and rank, leave the Icewing kingdom." Leave the kingdom? Why? I thought father wanted what I wanted... all I have dreamed of all my life was being a true Icewings. I thought maybe I was getting closer. Does he want me to have no chance? I would lose... so much. Everything I've tried to become. Icewing rules are strict, and if you break them, you sacrifice everything. ''Anger boiled through Cactina, but a train of thought wouldn't escape her mind. ''What if those rules don't make you a better dragon? They control you. ''"but, why?" She finally managed to splutter. "Living here was the only thing I ever hoped for- I'm an outcast- I was so close to fitting in. This actually means everything to me. Father, why?" Anger a pain shot through her. It probably should matter this much, but it did. "Ah, I have not finished." Anorak said, turning away so they couldn't see the tears filling his eyes. "Your mother is in danger. And I can do nothing about it" Memories flooded through Cactina's mind. Warm scales against her back ''"Stay safe. We love you." ''she had whispered, wrapping one wing around her daughter. A mother she had never really known. Cactina had chosen to be an Icewing, at the expense of her mother. As a Sandwing, Her mother wasn't able to get past the Great Ice Cliff alive, but with her Icewing blood, Cactina could. That night, she had gone with her wish to be an Icewing, but left her mother behind her. "Cactina, I have duty's here in the Ice kingdom. I am a warrior, sworn to my tribe. Sometimes, I wish we didn't have tribes, we didn't have this. It separates us. You need to realize this. I cannot leave here. I cannot help her. You can." Anorak's dark blue eyes swam with guilt and anger, but there was something else in there. Pride for his daughter.? "Cactina, you can." ''Can I? '' She wondered. Of course, she wasn't important to running the kingdom, but her wish to be was still strong. She still wanted to be a true Icewing. "Your mother has been kidnapped for an unknown reason. Your older brother, Forge, will need to stay here with me. He has his own duties as well. However, Moraine, I understand that Cactina is your friend and you would want to make this journey with her, but you cannot. It is not safe." Anorak explained gravely. Moraine opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again. ''I hope she understands him, I want her to be safe too. ''Cactina added to herself. ''Looks like I'm planning on going. Anorak stepped back, reaching into a niche in the ice. He pulled out a glimmering pendant, looking like it was carved from ice. Engraved in it was a sun and a diamond. "Take this, and stay safe." Anorak motioned towards a launch window. "Go now, while you have the chance. Fly south, fly to queen Thorn. Ask her for clues. I am sorry I had to force you to do this." Cactina stepped forwards, her brain whirling and claws shaking worriedly. How did I agree to this so quickly? Why am I doing this? Is it to late now say no? ''She gave Moraine one last smile, telling her without words that they would see each other soon. As she spread her wings, a talon grasped her shoulder. "Stay safe daughter." Anorak's once fearless, now worried eyes met her own. "Save your mother." On that note, Cactina took off towards the setting sun. ... ''Cactina was rolling in the snow with her older brother, Forge. He was also half Sandwing, but she admired him, as you couldn't tell he was. He was much faster than her, and easily dodged the snowball she threw, laughing playfully as he threw one back. Forge was very clever, and was working hard to become a scientist for the Icewing tribe. He had many friends, all also high-ranked and clever, who worked alongside him. Sadly, Cactina had none. Just months ago, They had both arrived at the Ice Palace. They has never before seen those swirling spires and beautiful twinkling lights. Cactina had come as a choice, deciding she would rather be a brilliant Icewing than be trapped back past the Great Ice Wall. Forge, had bravely volunteered, not because he wanted to, but because he knew he would be more accepted and more useful in the Ice kingdom than anywhere else. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he teased, grinning all of his sparkling teeth at her. He stopped a second later, noticing how his sisters gaze was watching something intently. Another small dragonet, about Cactina's age, was flying towards them. A moment later, she landed on a snowbank near them, shyly casting a glance at Cactina. Her scales were a color very close to white, with a slight blue tint. She also had dark blue scales scattered down her snout and neck, like the sea sparkling through cracks in the ice. "I was... I was wondering if I could... train with you?" "Sure!" Cactina piped up immediately, very excited at the chance of a possible friend. "I'm Blizz- just Blizz. I'm a- pretty much an Icewing. Ignore the Sandwing-like crest on my head." "Ok, sure!" she replied, her shyness washing away. "Wow, and I thought I was weird! I'm Moraine, second circle! My sister is Lynx, you may have heard of her." Cactina had no idea who Lynx was, but she certainly didn't want to seem like she was un-knowledgeable with her first chance of a friend. "Of course! I'm only fourth circle- but I'm climbing my way up quickly." "Good to know! I hope I can make it to first circle- I mean, most other dragonets our age are only in fourth, but we may as well try, right?" '' ''Cactina tilted her head, trying to see if she was bragging, but nothing but innocent honesty shone in the dragonets eyes. It seemed like she finally had a friend. As Moraine smiled warmly, she hoped that she would be a friend for all her life. Chapter 4 Starbud did a delighted flip in the air, calling out happily as she looped her tail around the branch above her. "Jubilee, look!" She yelled from her upside-down perch. "I can do a flip just as well as you!" "Fine, fine. You know, I was only teasing." Jubilee poked his purple-speckled head around the nearest tree, grinning. "I know you can flip just as well as any Rainwing." "Yeah, I knew you were teasing. But, I really can't help to make sure, can I?" She stretched her wings out, the silver sparkles on the underside reflecting like stars in the night sky. Starbud was a Nightwing-Rainwing, daughter of Queen Glory and King Deathbringer, and was proud of it. "It is sad that you can only change your scales to those boring dark colors, though." Jubilee commented, nodding his snout as her near-black, purpleish scales. "I, mean, only a darker version of the spectrum- and black, what kind of colors are those?" He turned his snout a bright lime green to emphasize the effect. "Well, I don't mind that much. It would be cool to be able to camouflage, but I can't, so it's no big deal." Starbud commented, hissing a spray of harmless venom onto Jubilee. "But I am ''kind-of sad about the venom. See, it doesn't even do anything!" "Yikes!" Jubilee yelped, hopping onto the next tree."I know it doesn't melt stuff, but it's still really scary when you shoot it. What if it suddenly started working?" "I doubt it. Hybrids often have really bad abilities." Starbud flipped around a branch to land next to Jubilee, nudging his wing with her snout. "I don't mind, though. All the Rainwings are really accepting." "What about the Nightwings?" Jubilee commented sarcastically. "Let's not even go there. Want to head back to the pavilion? I heard that we're expanding the healer's hut, so maybe we can help with the plans." Starbud launched herself off the branch, not waiting for an answer. "Well, If they don't have any objection to us being four-year-old dragonets." Jubilee called after her, flapping wildly to catch up. ''I wish something exciting would happen. ''Starbud thought to herself as she dodged a clump of vines. ''I'm lucky to live here, of course, but I want to be able to adventure- to have fun! Father would have been on so many adventures when he was this young. I suppose mother had been trapped in a cave, but I bet she must've longed for adventure too. She changed her course, angling straight towards the pavilion. It wasn't in the canopy, or on the ground, so there were no other buildings surrounding it, just the forest. Her talons tapped down lightly onto the edge of the pavilion. She looked around, shocked. Normally, at least a guard or Deathbringer was there. Today, it was completely deserted. There was a light ''thud ''as Jubilee landed next to her. "Weird, huh? You'd think that someone would be here. Didn't Banana have a shift?" He asked poking the woven platform curiously, as if the hidden dragons would reveal themselves. "Banana?" Starbud called, but only the sounds of squawking toucans came back to her. "Should we head to the village?" Jubilee inquired, his snout creased with worry. "Yeah, we probably should." Starbud looked around one last time before taking off again, Jubilee in her wake. They flew up towards the canopy, and the Rainwing village. As they got closer, they heard familiar voices shouting from the healers hut. "No! I am not sending you! I am not sending anybody, this puts your life in danger." "Aww, you're so worried about me... well, you're not allowed to go either." "Stop! Stop arguing! Clay, help, tell them to stop!" "WHERE DID SHE GO! WHY DO DRAGONS KEEP DISAPPEARING! I AM GOING TO KILL SOMEBODY IF ANOTHER DISAPPEARS." That last one was clearly Tsunami. Starbud winced. "Should we interrupt?" Jubilee whispered to her, covering his ears from Tsunami's angry howls. "Maybe. I don't know what mother's reaction will be." Starbud commented, flying a little closer. "Well, there's one way to find out!" Jubilee said quietly, and dove down to the healer's hut, promptly flopping on the platform in front. The yelling quickly ceased, as Starbud also landed. Starbud looked around. The beds in the hut were empty, but there were seven dragons gathered, all five of the dragonets of destiny, her father Deathbringer, and Fatespeaker, Starflights mate. "Starbud, Jubilee, now is not the time." Glory said calmly, ushering them out the door. "We're old enough to know whats going on!" Starbud lashed her tail, growling. "Well, I did go on my first mission when-" Deathbringer started, only to be interrupted by Tsunami "WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR FIRST MISSION! NO ONE, THAT'S WHO! WHEN SUNNY WENT MISSING ALL YOU DID WAS SIT AROUND AND DO NOTHING, TOO!" "Somebody's missing?" Starbud inquired, a bolt of shock running down her spine. This was a problem. Everytime dragons went missing from the rainforest, it didn't amount to something good. ''The stories father told us... the missing rainwings... Sunny's kidnappers (which are never mentioned for some reason)... all the nightwings that run off in search for help to overthrow mother. ''Hopefully it was just one of those, because they were normally stopped pretty quickly. Tsunami exchanged a glance with Glory, who sighed. "It's- your friend- Moonwatcher." She disappeared this night, and it looked like there was a fight in her hut-" "There claw marks on the wood, leading to the door, as if Moon had still been fighting when she was dragged away." Deathbringer explained, flicking his wings towards Glory as if he wanted to wrap his wings around her and move her far, far, away from any danger. But she was the queen, and she had her job to do. ''Moon. kidnapped. ''In the rainforest, something other than peace used to be unheard of. Well, sure there were the grumbly Nightwings, but nothing really ever ''happened. ''Starbuds scales pulsed dark red and dark green, fear and anger shooting through her. Her mother never slipped, letting colours escape her feelings. She squashed it quickly, forcing her scales back to dark purple. Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Genre (Adventure) Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)